‘Just come experience it’: How fans can join the Voyageurs’ march to BC Place for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup match

Team Canada will be greeted in Vancouver by soccer fans from across the country who have travelled to the city for the World Cup match.

Member of the Voyageurs—Soccer Canada’s support group that organizes big, loud, colourful marches to national team matches—are flocking to Vancouver for Thursday’s FIFA World Cup game against Qatar.

Larry Zima flew in from Edmonton.

“It’s the World Cup, and where Canada goes, we go,” he said in an interview near BC Place.

Longtime Voyageur Alex Ho is in town from Ottawa.

“It feels like we have to do this, because we love the sport in this country, and we want to support it, and we’re in a good spot. We really want to build momentum going forward,” said Ho.

Jamie Macleod is originally from Vancouver, but now lives in Toronto. All three Canada superfans participated in the Voyageur march to the stadium for Toronto’s match last Friday before coming to Vancouver.

“This is 30 years in the making. Every one of these marches is 30 years in the making,” said Macleod.

The Voyageurs are meeting at Fionn McCool’s Irish Pub near Science World at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, which will be the starting point for the march down the last mile route to BC Place stadium.

“We want as many people as possible to come here. The more, the better,” said Ho.

The group says fans don’t need a ticket to the 3 p.m. match against Qatar to march with the Voyageurs. Anyone can chant, cheer and travel with the crowd until the start of BC Place security.

“If you don’t have a ticket, just come experience it. It’ll be a beautiful day on Thursday. Skip work, who cares? Come down, bring the kids, bring the family,” said Zima.

“I think it will have a lot more people than the Toronto march. I think it’s going to be bigger, there’s going to be a lot of energy and everyone wearing red, I hope. And it’s going to be a lot of fun. It should set the tone for inside the stadium,” said Macleod.

The Voyageurs will lead the crowd in boisterous chants during the march.

“It could be something as simple as ‘Go Canada, Go.’ It doesn’t matter. Make some noise, scream, yell, whatever you want to do,” said Ho.

And if it’s a chant newcomers don’t recognize?

“Somebody beside you will know it. Somebody will make something up, you can hear it. The Voyagers are going to be loud, loud, loud. And you just fall in and join in and cheer,” said Zima.

“It’s going to be big,” said Macleod. “Let’s put on a show that Canada’s never seen before.”